WASHINGTON – President Bush bluntly accused Iranian agents yesterday of providing sophisticated explosives to kill U.S. troops in Iraq but said he did not know whether they were acting on orders of Iran's leaders and denied using the allegations as a pretext to go to war with Iran.

During his news
conference,
President Bush
addressed skepticism
of his government's
assertions about Iran's
involvement in Iraq.

As the House entered its second day of debate over the Iraq war, Bush tried to quiet talk that he was heading down the same road with Iran that he did with its neighbor four years ago. At his first news conference since announcing plans to send more troops to Iraq, Bush said he sees fresh progress in Baghdad and warned Congress not to cut off money or set timetables for withdrawal.

The president spent much of the session in the East Room addressing skepticism of his government's assertions regarding Iran and fears of a widening regional conflict.

“The idea that somehow we're manufacturing the idea that the Iranians are providing (explosives) is preposterous,” Bush said. Repeating a reporter's question, he added: “Does this mean you're trying to have a pretext for war? No. It means I'm trying to protect our troops.”

Bush rejected suggestions that his administration has provided conflicting accounts of the Iranian leadership's involvement in arming Iraqi extremists. On Sunday, U.S. military officials briefing reporters in Baghdad on the condition of anonymity said that the “highest levels” of Iran's government were involved, but Marine Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, later said he would not say the Iranian government is complicit.

“There's no contradiction that the weapons are there and they were provided by the Quds force,” an elite branch of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards, Bush said. He added: “We know that. And we also know that the Quds force is a part of the Iranian government. That's a known. What we don't know is whether or not the head leaders of Iran ordered the Quds force to do what they did.”

The administration has long asserted that Iran has been fomenting trouble in Iraq but the issue has taken on new urgency in recent weeks as Bush dispatched an additional aircraft carrier to the Persian Gulf and confirmed orders to capture or kill Iranian agents caught in Iraq. Democrats and other critics have accused Bush of exaggerating the situation to justify new military action.

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., went to the Senate floor after Bush's news conference to insist that he ask Congress for permission before attacking Iran. “It would be a mistake of historical proportion if the administration thought that the 2002 resolution authorizing force against Iraq was a blank check for the use of force against Iran without further congressional authorization,” she said.

The president's news conference demonstrated how much the three countries Bush dubbed an “axis of evil” continue to dominate his presidency five years after he used the term. With the war in Iraq still mired in violence and the confrontation with Iran growing, Bush was able to cite North Korea as a bright spot. U.S. negotiators reached agreement this week in six-party talks with Pyongyang to shut down its nuclear weapons program in exchange for food and energy.

“This is progress,” Bush said. “It is a good first step. There's a lot of work to be done to make sure that the commitments made in this agreement become reality, but I believe it's an important step in the right direction.”

The deal has come under fire from figures on the left and right, who complain that it rewards bad behavior and gives away too much without certainty that North Korea will live up to its end. Bush bristled at the criticism, saying: “The assessment made by some that this is not a good deal is just flat wrong.”

The Iran issue has inflamed the already emotional debate on the House floor, as lawmakers are expected to pass a nonbinding resolution denouncing Bush's decision to order 21,500 more U.S. troops to Iraq. The president had largely stayed out of that debate in recognition that it seems certain to pass with some Republican support and that it is symbolic. But he signaled a willingness, even an eagerness, to fight any attempt to tangibly tie his hands.

“My hope . . . is that this nonbinding resolution doesn't try to turn into a binding policy that prevents our troops from doing that which I have asked them to do,” Bush said. A few moments later, he added: “I'm going to make it very clear to the members of Congress, starting now, that they need to fund our troops and they need to make sure we have the flexibility necessary to get the job done.”

Republican leaders predict that as many as two dozen or so GOP members could vote tomorrow for the nonbinding repudiation of the troop increase. Rep. Walter Jones of North Carolina led the GOP rebels during debate on the House floor.

Jones, whose district includes the Marines' Camp Lejeune, said he had spoken out four years ago against the plan to invade Iraq. “I now regret that I did not more openly challenge those who were determined to invade a country whose actions were peripheral to the real threat, al-Qaeda,” he said.

“For young men and women who are brave enough to go into Iraq and Afghanistan, then we as members of Congress must be brave enough and informed to start a dialogue in Damascus, in Tehran, in the entire region to hasten peace,” said Rep. Wayne Gilchrist, R-Md., calling for a diplomatic effort along the lines recommended by the Iraq Study Group.

“I will support this resolution because I believe that the surge will be unsuccessful without a comprehensive, diplomatic strategy to engage the international community and turn responsibility over to the Iraqi government,” said Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del.